Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer has said that he wanted the number 10 jersey to emulate his idols, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.
Recall that he recently changed his number from No. 20 to No. 10 ahead of the Club World Cup.
Speaking during a new interview, Palmer revealed that he has always loved watching Messi and Rooney play football, and both players did a very good job of making the jersey number iconic for upcoming footballers.
“Messi, the big one, Rooney and players like that. It’s just an iconic number. I wore No. 10 all my life growing up and I just like the number,” he said.
His new number 10 shirt was most recently worn by Mykhailo Mudryk, his teammate, who is facing a potential ban of up to four years after the Football Association charged him with a doping offence relating to a positive drugs test.
According to Cole, he has not had a conversation with Mudryk in a while, and he cannot involve himself in the forward’s case with the FA.
“I have not spoken to Misha yet but I will when the time is right. It is not really my place to get involved with him at the minute. I will speak to him,” Palmer said.
He also played down reports that he is not happy with manager Enzo Maresca’s style of play, saying that his comment about being sick of going backwards and sideways was not a dig at his coach.
Palmer concluded by saying that it is just a personal wish to always want to try something different with the ball at his feet.
“We had a joke about it. My comments weren’t towards the manager or anything. It was just a personal thing. I felt like in the game, I was maybe being a bit safe. So that’s where the comment came from.
I wanted to get the ball and try something different than previously. Obviously you can’t take the p— and do like whatever you want and stuff, but I feel like he [Maresca] still gives you a little bit of room to try and see what I can do,” he added.
